


I’m into you like a cat is into boxes

by yellowhalcyon



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Blow Jobs, Dorks in Love, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Hand Jobs, M/M, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-12-31 10:04:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12130098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yellowhalcyon/pseuds/yellowhalcyon
Summary: A little one shot, where Magnus gets a gift and uses the box it came beyond the intended use by living up to his cat eyes, let's say. Alec is also in love, but that’s nothing new.





	I’m into you like a cat is into boxes

**Author's Note:**

> ~~okay this isn’t half bad from compared to when I first read it~~ never mind I don't really like it, but enjoy!
> 
> I wanted to call this a variety of either ‘dry mouth’ or ‘dry tip of the tongue’, but then that would mean I’d have two fics with the word ‘dry’ in the title, so I googled ‘cats in boxes’ instead and [here we are](https://img0.etsystatic.com/022/0/5438341/il_570xN.548871634_cpk8.jpg).

Even if sunlight didn’t shine on through the partially open curtain, Alec still reckons the room would have glowed nonetheless. In fact, Magnus always has a soft light to him that often just adds to the butterflies fluttering around Alec’s stomach and the blissful static running through his brain whenever Magnus flashes him a smile – or even merely looks his way.

Damn, realisations like that reveal just how lost he is. He has never felt this way for someone before in his whole life, not even when with Jace. That was – still is – love, but the way Magnus has slipped into his heart appears to be on a very different playing field, indeed.

Nestled in the golden sheets of his bed, Magnus stirs slightly in his sleep and makes small noise as his sleeping body shuffles another inch closer to Alec.

It seems he always did like to watch people sleep. Him and Jace shared a room – never a bed though – once in a blue moon and Alec always enjoyed those times even more, when he got to wake up first, to watch Jace sleep. And he does have a very adorable sleeping face.

Also so does Izzy, now he thinks about it. They’ve shared a bed a few times when young. He wonders if she still hums in her sleep. Although, of course, the feelings he harbours for her are completely different than that of Jace or Magnus.

Alec can’t help himself and reaches out a light hand to brush his fingers across Magnus’ cheek. The delicate skin is warm and he knows the action will wake him, but he doesn’t think it’ll be a problem this far into the morning.

Magnus twitches at the touch, hums again, and soon his eyes flutter open. He takes a moment to wake up properly and then his gaze flick up to Alec. For a moment, he sees nothing but the man in his bed.

The hand on his cheek spreads down into a palm and his skin is warm. He brushes a thumb back and forth.

Quickly, though, Magnus shakes his head and shifts about to wake up the rest of his body. ‘What time is it?’ he asks, after a minute.

Alec exhales and reaches back across to the bedside table for his phone. The screen flashes to life. ‘Barely past eight-thirty,’ he says in surprise. Huh. He felt like he’d been watching Magnus sleep for much longer.

Magnus hums, ‘that’s alright then, gives us a few more time to ourselves.’ He shuffles closer and leans in for a kiss, but Alec pulls back.

‘Uh, morning breath,’ he says, quickly to ease Magnus’ wounded expression. ‘Um, give me a minute to go brush—’ he pulls the sheet off his bare legs and starts to sit up.

‘No, wait, I can fix that,’ Magnus says, hand on his arm. And he presents his other hand in the air before clicking it defiantly.

Alec feels a tingle travel across his mouth, then a minty taste emerges from the back of his throat. He lies back and flicks the sheets closed again, eyes never leaving Magnus. ‘Did you just use your magic... to clean my teeth... just so you can kiss me?’ he says.

‘Are you complaining?’ Magnus says, getting closer and closer.

‘Of course, not,’ Alec can’t control the grin on his face as he kisses Magnus, again and again. Hands move up to cup his cheeks and Alec moves his own to slide down Magnus’ side. They barely have an hour before he needs to be at the Institute, but there’s always a little room for fouling around. His hands reaches back and warmly cups Magnus as a question. Magnus moans back an answer: _yes_.

Until a sharp knock resonates from the front door.

Magnus signs in his arms, pausing the kiss, and puts on a fake smile in annoyance, ‘wonder who that could be?’

‘If it’s Jace again, asking to move, I’m gonna impale him on his own stele,’ Alec says and he watches Magnus gracefully jump up from the bed and wrap a dressing gown around his nude body.

He throws Alec a concerned look before disappearing from the room. He knows Alec wouldn’t really hurt Jace, but Alec can’t ignore the frustration he caused around their first time. And how he also worried about when he wasn’t around what Jace would discuss with Magnus concerning their relationship. Amusing – but dead end – threats like that are how he deals with it. Currently.

Alec listens from the bedroom, planning to stay where he is. It must be someone Magnus thinks he can trust since he’s gone up to answer without make up and jewellery. Although a simple click of magic could sort that out before he reaches the door. There were few he would let see him in such a laidback state, in addition of wanting to come visit him this early in the morning... and so Alec registers who it could be before he hears their voice.

Leaping up from the bed, Alec rushes into a pair of jeans and a shirt and emerges barefoot from Magnus’ room to finding him helping Raphael Santiago and some other vampires carry a wooden box into Magnus’ main entrance.

‘I do hope you like it,’ Raphael spots Alec and his upper half stiffens. ‘Hello, Alec,’ he says, forced and polite.

‘What’s this?’ Alec asks and completely ignores Raphael. If not for Magnus’ sake, but also because he can’t look at the man and not see that jaw wrapped around his sister’s wrist while her beady eyes stare at him longingly.

He forces out a calm exhale. Izzy’s addiction was not Raphael’s fault and he promises to see it as her own problem now, not about anyone else. But, in his books, even if he didn’t start it, Raphael did not exactly help her stop either. They’re not back together, so Alec just needs time and action to forgive the man. He is the Downworlder representative of Brooklyn Vampire Clan, after all; Alec needs to make more an effort.

Magnus notices the jab, but nonetheless, smiles sweetly. ‘Raphael has bought me a gift, Alec, something to add a little positivity in these trouble times.’

‘I’m sure,’ Alec says and tries to hide the full distain from his voice. From the corner of his eye, Raphael flinches still and Alec chastises himself.

There is a moment of silence whilst the conversation dies and Raphael’s friends finish unpacking whatever’s inside the box. The air fills with squeaking polystyrene.

Magnus’ eyes widen at the sight of an elaborate, single chair as it’s pulled up into view. The base and back are made of wood with fabric pattern stretched over the front and decorated with the scene of two stags hidden in dense foliage. Different shaded trees line the background and the branches of one spread out across the top of the foreground like dark ink.

Even Alec can admit it’s a beautiful chair.

‘Oh my, it’s gorgeous,’ Magnus breathes. ‘Thank you, my sweet.’

Raphael gives a small smile before retracting it and motioning his friend towards the door. ‘If you’re fine where this is,’ he says, ‘I’ll be making may exit then.’

Alec can’t tell if Raphael senses his unease, or if he himself feels unease and wants an out. But either way, it’s best if the situation is defuses before it can escalate to something bad, something more than two men slightly uneasy with each other. Alec knows himself, he would let it get that way this early in the morning.

With that thought, ‘you should. I’m gonna start some breakfast,’ he says without looking at Raphael and leaves the room. As he detaches himself from the scene, Alec hears Magnus go _tut tut_ this time.

¬

Alec Lightwood spends the whole day filling out paperwork forms. He doesn’t see much of anyone, except when they show up with their own reports for him to sign or with more forms for him to fill out. Turns around being the head of an Institute involves holding a lot of electric pads in your hands and feeling like your signature could change fifty times over the course of a few hours.

He remembers Izzy popping her head round the corner, as he does for Jace and Clary and maybe even Simon. Who knows? At this point in the evening, he’s half expecting Magnus to appear again and inform him he missed dinner again. But eventually one by one, he gets through the forms and finally his finished pile outweighs the to-be-done pile. Alec puts down the last electric pad and exhales.

Running a hand over his face, he gets up and stretches before flicking on his phone. No messages; so he sends Magnus a quick one to let him know he’s coming, then grabs his jacket and nips out the door as fast as he can. If any other forms appear along the way now, he’ll swear to do them tomorrow or something. They’re not important anymore.

Alec makes it out of the building unapproached and practically sprints down the road to put some distance between him and work, but more importantly to shorten the distance between him and Magnus. When he gets back he wants to sweep Magnus into his arms and twirling him around. In fact he can almost picture the surprised look on his face now and it brings a smile to his lips in the cool street air.

The looming tower of Magnus’ flat complex comes into view and Alec feels the familiar burst of happiness he always associates with that building, like child with their favourite sweet.

He doesn’t knock, just lets himself in because Magnus has a _ward_ set up to keep out specific people and Alec had been put at the top of the access list a long time ago.

‘Magnus?’ he calls as he makes his way into the main living space and doesn’t find him, his jacket already half ways down his forearms.

‘In here.’ Magnus’ voice comes from the nearby study room.

Chucking his jacket on a sofa, Alec makes his way over to the room but when he goes inside, Magnus is nowhere in sight. ‘Uh... where?’ he says, confused, glancing around, that fancy chair Raphael got him catching his eye in the corner along with... the cardboard box in came, set down next to it.

‘I’m here.’ Magnus’ sounds muffled and low down to the ground.

Then Alec spots the tuff of dark hair sticking up from the top of a cardboard wall. He smiles, bemused, and walks up to the box, Magnus’ frame slowly coming into view.

He’s crowded up into the small space the box provides with the polystyrene now removed. His hands, resting on his nearly vertical thighs, clasped around a book.

‘You know,’ Alec grins, hands clasped behind his back, and tries to suppress a laugh, ‘I’m pretty sure Raphael wanted you to sit on the chair, not the box it came in.’

Magnus sighs and defiantly turns the page of his book, like he sees nothing wrong with this. However, he keeps his eyes poised on the ink words before him, concentration clear. ‘Out on the balcony, the sun kept heating up the back of my head,’ he says. ‘So I thought maybe the hole here,’ he taps the nearest hole they put in as a handhold, ‘might keep the sun on my book but not on me. Turns out, it’s actually quite comfortable in here.’ He shifts a little, only a little since there’s barely any room to shift about at all, and Alec takes note of the red satin cushion positioned at his lower back, ‘...if you put a cushion down.’

‘Hmm!’ Alec lets out closed-mouth moan, almost biting his lips and puts his eyes up at the window beyond, instead of on his silly, adorable boyfriend sat in a bloody cardboard box. He squeezes the hand in the other behind his back. ‘Well the sun isn’t out any more, you know...’ he says, but Magnus must already know, since at some point he’d switched a lamp on above him.

Finally Alec lets himself look at Magnus again and shoves his laugh into his facial expression. It’s only a matter of time before he bursts.

Magnus senses the gaze upon him. ‘What?’ he says, although not testing. He turns another defiant page.

‘I’m just... thinking of something Izzy used to say,’ Alec clears his throat and braces himself for the response, but mostly to keep down his laugh, ‘about our ...cat.’

Instantly Magnus peers up at him with _just_ his eyes. His expression and posture doesn’t change, but neither does he say anything to indicate Alec should stop.

‘ _If it fits_ ,’ he says, ‘ _I sits_.’

Silence.

Magnus calmly goes back to his book. ‘You used to have a cat?’ he says.

‘That’s all you got from that,’ Alec can’t hold back any longer and gives out a small chuckle. It sprouts a smile in Magnus at least.

Suddenly his tired his legs catching up on him, Alec jumps over to the nearest sofa and then glances over at Magnus. He puts a hand out casually and massages it into the back of his head and down to his neck.

Magnus leans back into the touch and moans slightly.

‘Half expected you to purr,’ Alec teases.

‘Alexander, are you mocking me?’ he says. He can feel the vibrations of Magnus’ voice on the back of his neck.

‘I wouldn’t dream of it,’ Alec says and props his head up on his other hand. From here, he can almost read the book in Magnus’ hands. Although it doesn’t take him long to get bored in the silence, despite Magnus’ soft nape. ‘It’s possible...’ he says in time with his massaging squeezes, ‘it might be a bit more comfortable up here... next to me.’

‘Well.’ To his surprise, Magnus lets up almost immediately and searches out for his bookmark. He marks the page and closes the book. He turns to look up at Alec and smiles softly, ‘I think you’re right.’

Magnus put one hand on the space beside him to push his body back up. But he realises too late, he’s put his weight in the wrong place and with a flash of cardboard brown, Magnus goes tipping backwards with a _thump_.

‘Magnus!’ Alec flies up and rushes around to his side.

Magnus is lying on his back, barely still inside the box. His book lies in a open heap near his head, a few singular pages bent with the overall weight of the book. Magnus shakes his head in a dazed state, hands held up above, and all of Alec’s mirth dies right there. He even has his cat eyes shown, including the flump to the floor surprised him enough to break the control on his _glamour_.

‘Shit, are you okay?’ Alec crouches before him and goes to put his hands on Magnus shoulders but hesitates at the thought it might hurt him. Still panicked, he searches his face. ‘Where does it hurt? What do you need? Speak to me.’

In the next few seconds, Magnus collects himself, with one blink his glamour goes back up, his dizzy disappears, and he lightly grabs hold of Alec’s wrist. Staring up at him, Alec wonders what he might say, when abruptly Magnus starts laughing.

Alec’s face falls. ‘Magnus..!’ he keeps laughing and Alec just doesn’t get it. ‘What?’ he says.

Magnus gradually calms down and reaches up to put a hand on Alec’s cheek, his rings cool against the skin. ‘I’m fine, Alexander,’ he says and Alec finally realises he was laughing at him, at how panicked he got from something so small and Magnus gazes up at him now with such affection. ‘I promise,’ he says.

‘I love you,’ Alec lets out; he can’t help it.

‘Oh.’ Magnus’ eyebrows rise in surprised glee and a happy, warm grin spreads over his lips. ‘I think those feelings have the potential to be reciprocated,’ he says, teasingly.

Alec straightens up, goes serious. ‘On what terms?’

‘A kiss..?’ Magnus tries, gently.

Alec moves back a little and it takes Magnus a moment to register he’s making room for Magnus to sit up. He lets go of Alec and does so. Alec puts his hand forward and pulls him by a finger under the chin. The kiss feels soft and tastes of Magnus’ new orange lip gloss.

‘I love you, Alec,’ Magnus says against his lips.

They kiss some more, breaths mingling. As with everything, Alec gives it his all, since he’s still used to having someone to kiss and doesn’t want to disappoint Magnus. Although he gets the impression the latter would never tell him if he ever thought that. Magnus lets out the small moan in the back of his throat that indicates he’s happy, and after a few moments Alec pulls back.

Magnus exhales.

‘Can you stand up for a second? I want to do something,’ Alec says.

‘Of course.’

They get to their feet.

Alec waits until Magnus has dusted himself down and is properly prepared. He then steps closer and wraps his arms gently around his waist, leaving enough time for him to stop, if he so wishes. However, Magnus eyes his arms with interest instead and once they’re all the way around, Alec fast forwards things and sweeps Magnus off his feet and with the momentum twirls him around.

‘ _Oh_!’ With a surprised gasp, Magnus grabs his shoulders for support and soon his smile turns into a laugh.

Alec laughs too. He only goes a few spins and holds Magnus up once they come to a stop. ‘Been wanting to do that all day,’ he says.

Magnus steadies himself on just one shoulder, grip firm, and catches his breath. ‘Alexander, you always find a new way to surprise me,’ he says.

Grinning, Alec leans up for a kiss and Magnus answers by meeting him half way. He feels a hand quickly cupping his cheek and it doesn’t take long for the kiss to get heated. Alec lowers Magnus slowly and, in doing so, slips his hands under his purple shirt, seeking out warm skin. Magnus responds in kind and tugs on Alec’s navy shirt, pulling it further up and up.

With a small pull back, Alec flicks it off. ‘Always quick to get me out of my shirt,’ he says.

‘Sit down, Shadowhunter,’ Magnus orders. With a definite shove Alec falls back onto the sofa behind. His heart races in excitement as Magnus advances and climbs onto his lap.

They kiss, hands explore down Alec’s chest and sending such tingles all throughout his body. Magnus reaches down to his belt buckle and starts to undo it. Alec nods into their kiss and pulls Magnus closer to say _keep going_.

But Magnus pulls back with a giggle and rests his forehead on Alec’s to get a view of what his hands are doing. ‘Anything in particular you want?’ he asks, pinging up the waist band of Alec’s pants and feeling him harden underneath his hands.

Alec just tries to breathe, losing himself in Magnus’ touch. ‘I want... _you_ ,’ he says.

He hears a huffy chuckle, their faces too close to see. ‘Okay, I think I have something you’d like,’ Magnus says and he pulls out his cock. The action sends an electric shocks straight to the spine and Alec can’t keep still any longer.

Magnus clicks his other hand and somewhere across the room a music track flicks on. He turns his attention fully back to Alec and clicks his fingers once more. When Magnus begins to stroke his hand up and down, it’s slick and wet and tingles in all the right ways. ‘Does that feel good?’ he says. In this state, Magnus’ voice becomes velvet smooth.

‘Yes,’ Alec breathes.

Magnus continues the stroking and dives in to run a flurry of kisses up Alec’s neck all the way up to his earlobe that he takes into his mouth and sucks on.

Alec groans, shivering while hot breath prickles at the hairs down his nape, and he grips the back of Magnus’ shirt so tight the fabric scrunches under his hands, he’s sure he’ll ruin it somehow. _Nothing some good magic can’t fix_ , a future warlock would say. He closes his eyes and feels Magnus’ finger trace over his runes. The feather light touch tickles and only adds to the rush of sensations hitting his senses. ‘Magnus... don’t stop,’ he says.

‘Okay.’ He captures Alec’s lips in his own and licks into his mouth.

Alec whimpers, chasing the kiss. But a strong hand holds him down in place. He shoots his eyes open and Magnus is head down, watching his hand work. ‘Talk... _Please_ ,’ Alec says, catching his attention.

An unsure expression flashes across Magnus’ face before he swallows firmly and leans back forward. He puts his right next to Alec’s ear and opens his mouth, ‘you’re so pretty, Alec, so very pretty. I love to see you like this. On the tip my fingers, squirming under me while I sit in your lap.’

The words drive him crazy. ‘ _Ah_!’ Alec jerks upwards at a particularly good twist of Magnus’ wrist.

‘Stroking you so close to the edge,’ he says. Magnus increases the pace just slightly and drags his lips down Alec’s neck. He reaches the centre of the deflection rune, the one that stretches over the whole expense of skin from his chin down to his collar bone, and Alec tenses.

Magnus notices. ‘You like this spot on your neck, don’t you?’

Alec can just about hum in response.

Magnus abruptly bites down and sucks onto sensitive skin while his hand strokes faster and faster.

Alec twitches and forces out a warning. ‘I’m... almost— _Magnus_!’ and he comes in silence; the orgasm washes over him like warm, gentle water.

At the wave of hand, some magic wipes it all clean. Opening his eyes, Magnus comes into focus again as Alec catches his breath, panting.

Magnus smiles, caresses the back of a hand across his cheek, and then pops a quick peck on the tip of his nose.

Alec chuckles, breathless. He takes the second he needs to regain himself, puts himself back inside his pants, then plants his hands on Magnus’ hips and flops him on the sofa next to him.

Now on his back, Alec crawls into the space between his thighs. He undoes the bottom few buttons of his shirt then slides it gradually open and up Magnus’ stomach. They lock eyes for a moment and Alec maintains this while he leans down and touches his lips to the soft skin of Magnus’ belly. He kisses a trail around his navel and Magnus twitches, shifting his hips up for more.

Alec goes all the way down until he can’t go further. He straightens up and touches Magnus’ belt buckle. ‘This okay?’ he asks, just to be sure.

‘Very,’ he says. Magnus’ eyes shine with lust, _glamour_ already down, lost somewhere along the way to Alec’s climax. He watches Alec undo the buckle and inches his trousers down enough to be able to take his cock out.

He pumps his fist up and down before remembering it would better for Magnus with some slick. Licking his lips, he leans forward and doesn’t hesitate to take him into his mouth.

Magnus immediately grabs hold of the sofa for support and slips the other hand into Alec’s hair. A glance up and Alec sees his head fall backwards onto the sofa arm.

He’s been looking up a few techniques on the internet, along with taking note of what Magnus says he likes during their dirty talks. So sticking to his research, he starts slow, with long slides and little twirls of the tongue, building it up gradually until his jaw aches from the work. When Magnus gives his hair an subconscious squeezes that’s the cue to get even faster.

Magnus groans and flings his head side to side. The knuckles of the hand on the sofa are extended full and the skin completely flushed. ‘Alexander, you...’ he says.

Alec hums in response and that sends Magnus over the edge. He cries out and spills into Alec’s mouth, squeezing the hand in his hair red tight.

Alec pulls off and wipes his chin. Shifting up, he gradually crawls along to Magnus’ face. A face that smiles up at him, half lidded. _Glamour_ still not back up yet, but Alec doesn’t mind. He’ll never mind, Magnus is beautiful like this. He gives Magnus a kiss on the forehead, then the lips. A sweaty palm comes up and cups his cheek.

‘Dinner?’ he says between a series of kisses.

‘Name a country and I’ll find the best eating establishment around,’ Magnus says.

Alec regards this before remembering something else, ‘or how about we try that bacon burger from the East Village I mentioned once?’

Magnus smiles. ‘I’d love to.’

But before anyone can move, they disappear into another kiss for a few minutes.

¬

The Institute manages to calm down enough for Alec to leave his room. With Izzy and Jace on a mission and Clary having buried herself in Angel and runes research, Alec heads over to the training arena and sets up a punching bag to kick around for the next hour or so. Originally, he starts with a vest, hand tape wrapped between the fingers, and jogging pants but as the sweat starts to make his vest almost obsolete, he ditches it in the corner to carry on shirtless.

This is when Magnus finds him. Obviously.

Alec doesn’t hear him come in over the sound of hitting the bag, but some movement at the side of his vision prevents Magnus from sneaking up on him at any rate. Although, he clearly never planned to do that to begin with, since with a quick side glance, Alec sees that he props himself up on a nearby pillar and enjoys watching him work out.

Alec can admit he likes the attention, trusts in it only from Magnus Bane, and even throws in a few moves he knows Magnus will like to see. Like stretching his arm over his head between a pack of punches to make the muscles in his back flex, or after a particularly hard punch extending his leg up to deliver the final blow, or bending down for an extra period of time, upon his finish, to reach for the water bottle.

However, in the end, Alec turns around to find Magnus in another set of odd circumstances. He’s stood there with sparkling eyes – like he usually gets when he’s impressed by something Alec did – but the only difference is this time he has the tip of his tongue ...sticking out of his mouth. At the very least, it doesn’t fail to inspire a curious smile from Alec’s lips.

Still panting, ‘admiring the view?’ he says and raises the water bottle to drink.

‘Oh Alec!’ Magnus shakes his head and plays the whole “ _distracted by your abs_ ” act all the way. He walks over, looking at everywhere but Alec, with the biggest smirk on his face. ‘I didn’t even realise you were there,’ he says playfully, upon approach.

‘Of course, you didn’t,’ Alec plays back and harmlessly rolls his eyes. ‘Your tongue isn’t too dry now, is it?’

And the act breaks. ‘Huh?’

‘You had it sticking out ...like a cat,’ Alec says and Magnus frowns. ‘They do it when they,’ he gestures his hand in the air around him, trying to think of the right word, ‘...you know, blep.’

Raising an eyebrow, Magnus shifts his head away. ‘So the teasing returns.’

Alec smiles in the confidence Magnus is still taking all this joking well and leans in for their greeting kiss. Magnus has his apple-flavoured lip gloss on today. ‘But seriously,’ he says, circling his fingers on Magnus’ waist, ‘what are you doing here?’

Magnus responds with sliding his hands up Alec’s arms and strokes his thumbs over bare biceps. ‘I received a rather hefty payment from a client this morning,’ he says, ‘so I’m able to take the rest of the day off. Thought I might spend lunch with you before doing a restock back home.’

‘Sounds great,’ Alec says and pulls away to grab his bag, along with the discarded shirt. ‘Just let me change and shower and I’ll be right with you.’ Magnus follows him as he moves towards the changing rooms across the hall. Alec has to pause at the keypad and enter the correct code for the doors to open.

‘You sure?’ Magnus raises an eyebrow and runs a tickling finger down Alec’s bare chest. ‘I’m perfectly okay with how you are now.’

Alec can’t help but twitch and giggle. ‘I don’t think you would be so in ten minutes,’ he says, eyes still focused on the lock on the door, on punching in the code and not on Magnus’ touch on his body, especially since he’s about to get naked for a wash. Thankfully, the door clicks then and slides open.

They make their way into the changing rooms.

Magnus shrugs. ‘Wouldn’t be the worst you’ve smelt, Alec, we do share a bathroom from time to time.’

...And the moment is safely defused.

Alec throws him a unamused look before disappearing behind a cubicle door. ‘And your potions don’t stick out _the whole apartment_ worse,’ he says, beginning to strip in the cubicle. Normally he would have no trouble stripping in front of Magnus, but these are _public_ locker rooms after all. So anyone else could walk at any moment.

‘Uh, my potions—’ Magnus starts.

‘—are a choice, Magnus,’ Alec says and peeps his head up above the cubicle door, for a second, to allow his expression to help reinforce the point. He’s one of the few here tall enough to be able to do that, in fact. ‘You could always do them out on the balcony,’ he says and switches on the water. ‘Whereas I’m sure me going to the toilet is not.’

‘Okay, you can have me there,’ he just about hears Magnus mumble over the stream. Although he makes sure Alec can definitely hear him say, ‘but I can’t always anticipate that they’ll smell.’

Alec assumes silence is the best response here. He then speeds through a shower and emerges in a tower because he knows it will please Magnus again, but also it’s all he can emerge out with. Once dried off, he slips into jeans and shirt and pulls his jacket back over his shoulders as they exit the locker room.

‘Right.’ Alec takes back his bag from him and, in exchange, takes hold of Magnus’ hand. ‘Where were you thinking?’

Magnus tilts his head to the side. ‘I have one eating establishment in mind,’ he says, flashing a warm smile.

They walk off hand-in-hand towards Alec’s room to first drop off the bag and then head out of the Institute building. Alec makes a internal note to make sure not to go over the rest of his lunch break again. Since with Magnus, he often makes the habit of losing track of time.

He, of course, goes back on this. Like he’s done every time before now.

**Author's Note:**

> This is [the chair](http://www.lindstenform.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/season_21.jpg) Raphael gets Magnus, btw.
> 
> Okay, funny story, I had a conversation about Magnus doing the [cat blep](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/85/ba/3f/85ba3f7657e04ff3a5c5e32e8602a552--long-live-cat-cat.jpg) with Cassian (they’re the sole reason the fic exists actually) and then the very next morning I woke up with a dry mouth and a dry tip of the tongue. I think I may have been cat blepping in my sleep.... lolol, although it certainly wasn’t a fun thing to wake up to :{
> 
> A conversation that ultimately was inspired by this [wonderful fanart](http://yellowhalcyon.tumblr.com/post/164686052529/serenity-fails-because-me-and-riss-had-a-stupid)
> 
> Come find me on [Tumblr](http://yellowhalcyon.tumblr.com/).


End file.
